OAN’s James Meyers
7:58 AM – Thursday, February 8, 2024
Mojo Nixon, the brash musician, actor, and radio dj died of “a cardiac event” his family announced on Wednesday. He was 66.
Nixon, whose real name is Neill Kirby McMillan Jr., was found dead aboard the Outlaw Country Cruise, an annual cruise where he would co-host and regularly perform.
“August 2, 1957 — February 7, 2024 Mojo Nixon. How you live is how you should die. Mojo Nixon was full-tilt, wide-open rock hard, root hog, corner on two wheels + on fire…,” his family said in a statement on Facebook. “Passing after a blazing show, a raging night, closing the bar, taking no prisoners + a good breakfast with bandmates and friends.”
“A cardiac event on the Outlaw Country Cruise is about right… & that’s just how he did it, Mojo has left the building,” the statement continued. “Since Elvis is everywhere, we know he was waiting for him in the alley out back. Heaven help us all.”
Nixon was born in North Carolina in 1957. He made six albums with musician Skid Roper, hitting the billboard charts with their hit single “Elvis Is Everywhere.” The low-budget music video made about the song actually became an unexpected MTV staple.
Additionally, Nixon and Roper recorded six albums together during the eighties. After the two split, Nixon continued a career of his own, releasing several solo albums and multiple collaborative Long Play tracks.
He also scored work as an actor and radio DJ, with regular appearances on Sirius XM’s Outlaw Country channel in the mid-2000s, where he received the name “The Loon in the Afternoon.”
“We are absolutely devastated,” said Jeff Cuellar, CEO of Sixthman, which organized the Outlaw Country Cruise. “Our thoughts and hearts are with Mojo’s family and the Outlaw community.”
Nixon summed up his career in a way he only could.
“Mojo Nixon wanted to be Richard Pryor. He’s like Richard Pryor’s stupid cousin if he was white and played in a rockabilly band. I’d say things that simultaneously shocked people and spoke the truth.”
“I don’t have that much talent, but what I do have is an enormous amount of enthusiasm,” he continued. “As Mr. Rotten used to call it, ‘An unlimited supply!!!’”
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